San Jose rent control: New recommendations, a wild meeting and a ballot measure?

Kill the idea of tying rent hikes to inflation like most other California cities. Continue letting apartment owners pass off improvements and investment costs to renters. And dump a suggestion to require landlords communicate problems in writing before evicting someone.

These are the recommendations from an advisory committee — created to give input on rent control — to City Hall on Wednesday night. It was in response to San Jose Housing Director Jacky Morales-Ferrand‘s proposed changes to the city’s rent control law.

And if the landlords don’t get their way, they’re gearing up for a fight at the ballot box.

The rent control law, adopted in 1979, covers about 44,000 units and allows owners to raise rent up to 8 percent a year. Morales-Ferrand recommends tying increases to inflation, which average about 3 percent.

That unleashed what can only be described as landlords gone wild Wednesday night.

The landlords at the meeting outnumbered tenants 70 to 4 — and it led to what some compared to a Donald Trump rally. Racism. Threats. And lots of shouting.

The moderator was forced to tell the overflowing room of landlords — who interrupted anyone they didn’t agree with — to quiet down several times. One landlord stood up and told the others to cut it out.

“Do you understand the impression you’re making?” he told the crowd. “You’re acting like children.”

Even though the committee contains six landlords and six tenants, five landlord advocates showed up Wednesday– Tom Scott, Gustavo Gonzales, John Hyjer, Joshua Howard and Roberta Moore — compared to three tenant advocates.

Morales-Ferrand says she’ll consider the recommendations before bringing final changes to the City Council. But there’s one big hurdle left. The landlords maintain there isn’t a problem with San Jose’s rent control — and housing staff doesn’t agree.

“There’s a big disconnect between what our data is showing and what the landlords are saying,” she said. “And they did not propose an alternative.”